The invention concerns an apparatus for the embossing of a plurality of cable marking rings formed of a synthetic plastic material, the embossing tool comprising upper and lower embossing heads moving against each other.
Longitudinally slit cable marking rings carrying, on two opposing sides, embossed and colored markings, for example numbering or lettering, are known from German DE-P No. 26 55 958.
The embossings to be applied to opposing sides of the cable marking rings are effected by means of embossing tools comprising embossing heads moving toward and against each other. A particular difficulty involves the holding of the cable marking rings during the embossing step. The marking rings, when being embossed, form portions of a one-piece injection molded body, the rings being interconnected by a web of the body. The forces applied by the embossing dies of the two embossing heads are relatively large, so that there is a risk of the cable marking rings shifting laterally during the double embossing operation, whereby the embossed image is obliterated. In the case of unilateral embossing this difficulty does not arise, as the rings to be embossed may be received and fixed in a lower die.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the afore-mentioned type, wherein the lateral escape of the cable marking rings during the embossing process is prevented.